This page explains a policy, a widely accepted standard that all contributors should normally follow.

Please visit the talk page to add comments or suggestions for further development of the policy.

Wiki Conditions of Use

By accessing the FamilySearch research wiki website (the “Wiki”), you agree to all of the following conditions. If you do not agree to all of these conditions, you may not access, log in to, or contribute to the Wiki. We may change these conditions from time to time, and we will post a notification on the Wiki when we do. Your continued use of the Wiki following the posting of changes to these conditions means that you accept those changes.

FamilySearch/GSU Licenses. This site is owned and operated by Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU or FamilySearch), a nonprofit organization created by Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch is dedicated to family history and genealogical research. You may view, download, and print material from this site only in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons license. Material from this site may only be shared with attribution to this site and under a similar license.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to deny, revoke, or limit use of this site to any person. FamilySearch is not responsible for any use that you make of materials from this site, and you agree to fully indemnify FamilySearch for any claims against FamilySearch based on your actions.

Registration Obligations. In consideration for the use of the Wiki, you represent that you have read and agreed to these Conditions of Use. When registering as a user of the Wiki, you agree to (A) provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself (as requested during the registration process) and (B) maintain and keep current and accurate this information about yourself, should it ever change. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your sign-in name and password. You agree that you are responsible for all activities that occur using this sign-in name and password.

Conditions When You Contribute. When you log in as a registered user of the Wiki, you will be able to contribute textual materials and non-textual materials, including images, to this site. All of your contributions of whatever sort are collectively called “Contributions” in this Agreement. If you do not agree to all of these terms, you do not have permission to submit any Contributions.

You agree to submit only Contributions that you reasonably believe will inform or enhance the experience of other users who are seeking information about how to do family history research.

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to deny, revoke, or limit your ability to submit Contributions; we also reserve the right to remove any Contribution that we deem, in our sole discretion, to be inappropriate for any reason or a potential violation of the rights of any party. If we have not taken action regarding any particular Contribution, this shall not be deemed a waiver of our right to act regarding that or any other Contribution.

You understand that all materials contributed by users to the Wiki are governed by the relevant Creative Commons license. You may choose to visit www.creativecommons.org[1] for further information on Creative Commons license terms. By submitting Contributions to this Wiki, you hereby grant to the public a worldwide, irrevocable license to your Contributions under the terms of the Attribution, Share-Alike Creative Commons license. You retain copyright ownership of your contribution.

Your Right to Submit Contributions. You hereby represent and warrant that you have the right to submit any and all Contributions that you submit to the Wiki, and that such submission and your licensing to the public of such Contributions as provided for in this Agreement do not violate the rights of any third party, whether in copyright, trademark, right of publicity, right of privacy, defamation, or otherwise under any applicable law or regulation. You agree to indemnify the owner of this site, its affiliated legal entities, and their directors, trustees, employees, contractors, and representatives, for all losses, costs, or damages arising from any violation by you of any representation or warranty made in this Agreement or from any use that you make of any materials from this site, including without limitation any material submitted by a third party.

We are not under any obligation, however, to review or examine any Contributions that you or others submit, and we do not represent or warrant that any Contributions found on the Wiki are appropriate, in good taste, or do not violate the rights of any other party.

Code of Conduct. You agree that you will not individually, or as part of any collective effort, submit or post Contributions to the Wiki that could be deemed harmful or offensive to other users, nor will you impersonate another user in order to hide your identity or implicate another in such actions. You agree to do nothing that might disrupt the flow of data to and from the Wiki, impact the service or performance of the Wiki, or circumvent any of the controls or usage rules that we have implemented. You understand that the result of harmful or offensive actions may include revocation of your right to access the Wiki and legal action against you.

Publishing Your Name. You give us permission to publish the username you select during registration to identify you as the contributor of your Contributions. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand how we treat your personal information. Processing of any personal data you provide may include sending it to countries that have data privacy laws that are less restrictive than those in effect where you live. Your local laws may also give you special rights to have your personal information corrected or removed from the Wiki, but this will not affect the license you grant to any contributions you make to the Wiki.

Legal Status and Jurisdiction. You understand that this Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Utah, and the laws of the United States of America, without regard to any conflicts of law principles. You agree that any legal action you bring against FamilySearch shall be brought in either the state or federal courts located in Salt Lake County, Utah, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action. You agree to this regardless of your location or any inconvenience to you. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable in whole or in part, the remaining provisions shall be unaffected, unless we determine that the invalid or unenforceable provision is an essential term of this Agreement, in which case we may at our sole discretion amend this Agreement. You also agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of data to or from the United States and the country in which you reside.

Limitations of Liability.FamilySearch shall not be liable for direct, indirect, special or consequential damages resulting from your use of, or your inability to use, this site, the materials in this site, or any linked site, including, but not limited to, lost profits, business interruption, and loss of programs or other data on your information handling system. In no event shall our total liability to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action exceed the amount paid by you, if any, for accessing this site or any linked site.

Additional Note: You may be required to agree to additional conditions in order to use certain services on this site.

DISCLAIMERS. THE MATERIALS AT THIS SITE AND ANY LINKED SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED AT THIS SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

Notice for Claims of Intellectual Property ViolationsIf you believe that your copyrighted work has been submitted to the Wiki without authorization in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or that your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide the FamilySearch Copyright Agent with the following information:1. an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest; 2. a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed; 3. a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Wiki, with enough detail that we may find it on the web site; 4. your address, telephone number, and email address; 5. a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright or intellectual property owner, its agent, or the law; 6. a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf. FamilySearch’s Agent for Notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached at the following address or using the fax or email address below:

You can also fax or e-mail the form to the fax number or e-mail address listed above.

Trademarks. FamilySearch is a trademark of Genealogical Society of Utah. For further assistance or information regarding trademarks and copyrighted materials, you may contact the Intellectual Property Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at: